Ranking each NBA team’s All-Decade starting 5 from the 2010s
8. Boston Celtics 2010s all-decade starting lineup
- Isaiah Thomas
- Ray Allen
- Paul Pierce
- Kevin Garnett
- Al Horford
The Big Three of the Boston Celtics weren’t at their collective peak at any point this decade, but they weren’t far off from their championship glory.
Remember, they came within minutes of a title in 2010 and were a game away from another Finals appearance in 2012. The trio is battle-tested with plenty of big-game experience, lest we forget about their All-Star level talent still very much on display.
Having Isaiah Thomas on this team felt weird. Not because his fifth-place MVP finish in 2016-17 wasn’t the best season this decade by a Celtics point guard, but because you wouldn’t take him over a Kyrie Irving or prime Rajon Rondo, and his diminutive 5’9” frame creates obvious matchup issues, specifically at the defensive end.
IT is at his best with the ball in his hands, but if Rondo had trouble keeping Boston’s Big Three happy, it’s hard to imagine a world where Thomas solves that issue as a shoot-first floor general.
Al Horford is the ideal center for most teams, and these Celtics are no exception. Without many passers in the lineup, Horford can step into a point-center role and thrive, having already established a rapport with Thomas.
Defensively, Horford and Kevin Garnett combine to form a stifling interior duo, the former of whom can cover multiple positions and ease some of that burden off Boston’s perimeter players.
All of Paul Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen can step up with the stakes at their highest and have proven as much even at a more advanced age.
They competed at a far higher level than most expected this decade on account of their ability to grind games down to the bone. Add Thomas’ offensive punch and the gaps Horford can fill in at either end, and that veteran savvy makes the Celtics a tough out, even against the glitzier opponents.